Heaven, Earth, Me

Yasenia pondered after hearing about everything. She only had one question left. "How hard is it to leave a World's edge and… How hard is it to enter that World again? I don't believe that [Star Beasts] don't visit Worlds because they are good people."

Tatyana looked at Yasenia and smiled. "Always so sharp, aren't we, Little Treasure?"

The dragoness blinked and asked. "Why, did you plan on hiding something?"

The Death Empress nodded. "I was… Well, not anymore, I guess." Tatyana commented. "The Heavens are the ones guarding most Worlds. For example, Distancia's Heavens probably fought several battles over the time that we were here. If a Heaven dislikes you because you've challenged it or hurt it, reentering once you leave the World is very complicated. It all depends on how much you are disliked. Still, it can fight back pretty badly, as that is the only time Heavens are able to attack other than Tribulations and desecrating the Heavenly or Natural order."

Yasenia blinked. "Does that mean that, once I leave and I return, I will be attacked by a Heavenly Tribulation?"

Tatyana shrugged. "I don't know, love. You've never left a World before, so I don't know how bad it can get for you. I have learned techniques to block Heavenly Perception for a short time, so I have no problems leaving and reentering. You haven't done that yet, so…"

"But…" The dragoness asked. "Can't I learn?"

Mirrory appeared and commented. "It's not that simple. Other techniques can be taught because they usually use meridians that we all share. Heaven-avoiding techniques, so to call them, are all unique techniques. Tatyana can give you hints, I can give you hints, and Valeria can give you hints. Nevertheless, we are not able to teach you how to create one. Not to mention, creating a Heaven Avoidance skill before Transcendence is ridiculous."

"I haven't tried it yet. How do you know I can't learn it quickly?" The dragoness frowned and continued asking. "I mean, it is not the best example, but I learned the skill for breastfeeding in just a few minutes when other dragons learned it in years, some taking up to 100 years to learn."

Valeria agreed with Mirrory. "This time, I have to agree with Mirrory, Yasenia. Heaven Avoidance skills are skills that can be learned because you have had direct contact with the Heavenly Will. Extremely talented people create them because if they don't, they will be trapped or eventually struck down by them. Like Tatyana, for example." 

Tatyana looked at Yasenia's unreconciled face and sighed. "That's why I am reluctant. I don't know… We don't know if you can even return after going outside the Heaven's influence. The Heavens can't attack you while you leave the World, but they can perfectly do so when reentering."

Yasenia looked around her and saw the girls looking at her worriedly. Then, other than Kaleina and Flame, the children didn't completely understand since they had yet to experience seeing any of Yasenia's tribulations. However, feeling the tense silence, they understood that it was not that good of an idea allowing their Mommy to leave.

Yasenia sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't want to leave and not be able to return or be able to return but needing to fight the Heavens with the risk of dying each time. She spoke. "But, if I don't leave, advancing my comprehension of the [Celestial Intent] is impossible. It feels impossible."

It said a lot for someone like her, who had ridiculously high comprehension abilities, saying that she had no clue how to start. 

"I understand what risks there are. Still…" Yasenia looked at Tatyana. Tatyana saw Yasenia's eyes, full of determination and life. The usual golden eyes that could make someone feel submerged in warmth were now burning. "I need to become stronger. I am not strong enough, and Distancia is starting to feel too small for me."

Mirrory commented. "To be fair, Yasenia's liquid state energy is far denser than some solid energy I've seen in other cultivators. It is normal for her to feel that Distancia is small. Her energy intake is starting to hit a limit because of the world and not her own ability to absorb energy."

Cecile spoke at length. "I know you've made up your mind. However, I want you to reconsider for a bit this time." Cecile caressed Katarina's plumage and commented. "At least wait until Estrella, Katarina, and Dianna can transform back and forth between their human and beast forms. I can already guess that you want to go outside alone to feel everything better, but if you leave and can't return… That's a problem."

Cecile looked at Yasenia firmly and said. "I don't want my soulmate to be absent during our kids' important days unless it is absolutely crucial. I understand that you sometimes need closed-door cultivation. We do as well. However, this is not the case."

Yasenia raised her eyebrow. "How is it not? If I don't become stronger, I might be there for the first fifty years, but I won't be there for the remaining eternity." Yasenia looked at Cecile's stubborn face and looked around with a confused expression. She saw that the rest of the girls were also very reluctant, making her feel bewildered. "What's wrong? Why are all of you so against me going out and trying to feel the outer space?"

Evelyn hummed, catching Yasenia's attention, and she sighed. "Okay, since all of you won't say it. I will." Evelyn looked at Yasenia and commented. "We are afraid that you will leave for more than a few days or months."

The dragoness frowned. "Huh? How? Why? I don't understand."

Evelyn scratched her head. "Yasenia, your bloodline, body, constitution, soul… Everything is pushing you up there. Everything is trying to make you soar and fly free. Cecile has told us about your little daydreams of roaming the universe." 

"Huh?" The dragoness didn't mind Cecile sharing those things, but she asked. "What's wrong with that? I am sincerely not following." 

Andrea hummed. "What if when you try to return, the Heavens don't allow you, which makes you need to roam space and find a new world? Then, when you arrive in that new world, you get trapped somehow, and your one-week trip becomes a one-century trip."

The dragoness paused and frowned. "Even if I can't return to the World, I can roam the surroundings, right? My Cultivation Technique should be able to help me cultivate even outside the World. I can just roam the outer border of the World and be there for all of you."

Angel asked. "What if a bad guy or beast comes and attacks you?"

Yasenia sighed and leaned back. After a little while, she smiled. "Sure, I won't go out yet. I don't know why you are so afraid, and I really don't understand why you don't want me to take risks to get stronger. We can always build a spatial house, and then I carry it outside via my Spatial Ring. There are thousands of… safety measures that we can take. But, if this makes all of you so uncomfortable, then okay, I won't for now."

Yasenia stood up and left, surprising the girls. After she closed the door softly, Dianna asked. "Um… Is Mommy angry?"

Kali coughed. "Perhaps a little. Don't worry about it, babies."

Tatyana didn't stop them this time because she thought similarly. She could see Yasenia's perspective, and she understood why asking for this could even be considered a bit cruel. However, Tatyana felt that Yasenia was just too young to go outside.

When the dragoness went out, she sighed and used her movement technique to disappear from there and go outside of the sect. Once outside, in the wilderness, she slowed down and looked around.

The Astral Sky Sect was surrounded by a mountain chain and situated in a basin. Meanwhile, the surroundings were full of lush and dangerous forests. Thanks to Yasenia's work, the outer forest was cataloged so that people knew what paths to take if they didn't want to be at risk of dying from a beast more powerful than them. 

Yasenia was in one of the few prohibited areas. The reason for its prohibition was that there were some very powerful beasts here. 

Yasenia spoke to the air. "Don't block the stronger beasts from approaching. If they dare come, I'll beat them up myself." 

A man's voice reached her. "Why would I block those beasts? You don't think that I would let them eat you instead?"

Yasenia blinked and turned around. She saw a very tall merman standing there, his arms crossed. "You are… The Astral Sky Abyss Sect's previous Sect Master?"

He smiled. "That's not the name of my sect, dragon."

The dragoness looked around and hummed. "You are here for…?"

He answered. "Kill you, of course."

The dragoness looked at him, speechless. "Kill me? Are you delusional? How can you even kill me? I mean, you are an assassin, so if you ambushed me, you might've had a chance. A slim one, but it is there. Now… Any chance at killing me is gone."

He smiled. "Is it? Don't you want to leave this place?" 

Yasenia's relaxed face tightened. 'How does he know? Did he listen to our conversation? Where is the leak? The formation should block all kinds of communication towards the outside, and my maids monitor it.'

The dragoness asked. "Where have you heard that I want to leave?"

The man smirked. "Does that matter?" 

"If you want me to believe you… Yeah." Yasenia smiled. "After all, if you've just said that one at random, trying to gauge my reaction, it is quite telling, yeah?"

"Well, your reaction was amusing, I will admit." The man commented. "Anyway, I don't really want to waste time before your maids kill more of my people. Yasenia Dravory, you've been inhaling a poisonous substance all this time. You will die in a few seconds."

Yasenia instantly took a pill to prevent death for several minutes and an antidote pill crafted by Valeria, just in case. 'I don't feel anything, but he must be sure if he just said it to my face.'

The man smiled. "Then-"

However, the dragoness didn't play the game. Instead, she instantly broke a teleportation talisman and returned to the base. Without a second of hesitation, she shouted. "Valeria, help!"

Valeria didn't even take a second to appear and asked. "What's wrong?"

Yasenia spoke quickly, just in case. "Poison. Undetectable."

Valeria's aura surged, and her life energy burst outward like a wave, covering the dragoness's every single cell. Then, her eyes glowed, and she looked deep inside of her.

Tatyana appeared and asked. "What's wrong?"

Yasenia looked at Tatyana and said. "Go to the forest, take everyone. It might be a trap. Don't be- COUGH!" The dragoness suddenly coughed blood, making her click her tongue. "I was careless." 

Valeria spoke swiftly. "Come with me." 

Tatyana's face cooled down, and her spiritual sense expanded outward, covering the area where Yasenia was. She quickly located the merman and stepped in that direction. She was not able to help in any way that Valeria wouldn't be able to, so she was better off catching the culprits and "nicely" asking some questions.

When Tatyana appeared, she realized that the merman was not moving. Instead, he looked at her with a smile. "Oho, Miss demi-goddess is here." 

Tatyana raised her eyebrow. "If you don't want to suffer a torment that will make you wish you were dead for eternity, you speak now, and instead, you suffer for eternity by being my Undead. Choose: eternal torture or eternal servitude." 

The man smirked. "I'll choose life, thanks. You can't kill me either way until your daughter is healed. Oh, you won't be able to heal her."

Tatyana laughed. "Really? You, a little man who barely has 4000 years of knowledge of this backwater world, will tell me what I can and can't do?" Tatyana smiled. "I've killed more people than your entire ancestral line has given birth to." 

The man shrugged. "This is not something from this World. It is a poison created by the sacrifices of millions. Yasenia is dead." 

Tatyana blinked. "Oh? Thanks for that information. I know how to cure her." Then, she waved her hand and made him faint. 

"Doriel!"

Doriel appeared and bowed. "We've apprehended everyone that has come with him. The poison was deployed even before Lady Yasenia arrived. We don't know how they knew that Young Miss would be here. We want to say using Fate, but unless the Fate user is someone from the Transcendence Realm… It is an impossible task to predict Yasenia's Fate, as she has cut herself from it."

Tatyana commented. "If a Transcendent tried to predict Yasenia's fate, they would be dead after making the prediction. So we don't need to worry about that. Still, keep the rest for later."

Returning back to the mansion, Tatyana spoke to Valeria. "Soul poison."

Valeria nodded and her aura completely changed, her life energy becoming more ethereal. Tatyana looked at Yasenia with a frown and sighed.